22/04/2008

22 April 2008

Give Your Mum a FREE Home Safety Check and Some Flowers
Mother's Day Sunday 11 May 2008

A FREE home safety check aimed at protecting senior Victorians in their own homes has been described as a life saving Mother's Day Gift which could prevent serious injury.

David Hallett General Manager of Archicentre said, "the Home Renovation Service is a free home safety inspection carried out by Archicentre inspectors and funded by the Victorian Government's Department of Human Services. The Home Renovation Service is free for pensioners 60 and over, and anyone with a disability and carers. A free $25 plant voucher from Nursery Garden Industry Victoria is currently available with every FREE home safety inspection booked before Mother's Day.

The home safety inspection service could be seen as a life saver preventing serious injury. A recent Archicentre survey looked at some 37,000 homes of older Victorians, of which 26% of all homes inspected had slip and trip hazards. This represents an increase of 4% on the last survey done in 2004.

Falls among older Victorians accounted for the majority of home injuries in 2005, including 19% of all deaths and 41% of all hospital admissions. Source: Monash University Accident Research Centre.

Mr Hallett said that unfortunately falls in the home can also lead to the loss of independence of seniors. For those seniors the injuries sustained as a result of a fall can mean expensive home modifications as well as sometimes an inability to return to their homes because the injuries are so severe.

The Free home safety inspection provides a special report and suggests ways of limiting safety hazards.

The home inspection can also take away the worries many older people are facing because of the drought. The drought that has plagued houses for the past decade has been highly distressing for older homeowners, many of whom view a crack as the first sign of a ceiling collapse, Mr Hallett said.

Archicentre is also urging people who visit their parents on Mother's Day to use the time to replace batteries in the smoke alarms and test the alarm.

The FREE Home Safety Inspections are funded by the Victorian Government through the Department of Human Services for aged pensioners, veterans' affairs card holders, disabled persons and carers. To access the service telephone (03) 9815 1900 or 1300 136 513.

www.archicentre.com.au